Moving to Charlotte, Need advice for apartment ... any help is appreciated. (Fairview: apartments, to rent)

[isitpossible]

I am moving from Chicago to Charlotte for job purpose in around September timeframe and searching for a safe/decent area to rent 1 bedroom apartment as I will be visiting Charlotte in August. I did go through many threads here and came up with a list after much research.

Now, I need some local expert advice to trim down my list based on my constrains.

Job Location: Gateway Village, Uptown Charlotte

Constraints as given below:

Commute time: Would like to have public transport option but not necessary
By Car - Not more than 15-25 mins
Public Transport - Not more than 35-50 mins

Rent: $600-$800 (trying to keep it under/close to $1000 including all utilities - cable/electricity/water/trash/etc)

Key things to consider:
1. Safety from home intrusion and car break-ins
2. Avoid "very" noisy neighbourhood
3. Safe and clean neighbourhood
4. Would like to have shopping in walking distance but not necessary

After research mainly via community boards and reviews over internet, I came up with this list:

North Side:
1. Auston Woods - Phase II (Liked this one from the looks and price)
2. Ashford Green (http://jmg.mynewsite.com/apartment/ashford-green-charlotte-nc-6ui2s8826463 - broken link) (looks good too)
Unfortunately found bad reviews on following but they are old reviews and not sure if reliable!!!
3. Colonial Grand at mallard lake
4. Colonial Grand at Mallard Creek
5. Colonial Grand at Legacy Park
6. Colonial Grand at University Center (Looks nice)

South Side:
1. Colonial Village at Charleston Place
2. Post Park at Phillips Place (seems expensive)
3. Bexley at Springs Farm
4. Camden Fairview
5. Strawberry Hill (http://www.strawberryhillapts.com/cont_main.html - broken link)
6. Galleria Apartments (http://www.galleriaapts.com/Apartments/module/property_info/property%5bid%5d/10252/ - broken link) (Looks good)
7. Sterling Magnolia - Kinda seems quite expensive
8. 1420 Magnolia (looks good but on top side of my budget)
9. Ashford Place (Looks good)
10. Camden South End - Not sure what price offered here.
11. Camden Foxcroft - Not sure what price offered here.

While doing the research found some common issues all across the broad:
1. BEWARE of car break-ins and home intrusion
2. BUGS BUGS BUGS
3. Bad management (could be relative to perception)
4. Flooding in parking till knees

Not sure how much of this is true and this is not my 1st time renting apartment but these are certainly not common issues.

I will appreciate your expert suggestions as it will help me trim down my list.

[isitpossible]

No expert advice/suggestions yet!!! :-(

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by isitpossible

I am moving from Chicago to Charlotte for job purpose in around September timeframe and searching for a safe/decent area to rent 1 bedroom apartment as I will be visiting Charlotte in August. I did go through many threads here and came up with a list after much research.

Now, I need some local expert advice to trim down my list based on my constrains.

Job Location: Gateway Village, Uptown Charlotte

Constraints as given below:

Commute time: Would like to have public transport option but not necessary
By Car - Not more than 15-25 mins
Public Transport - Not more than 35-50 mins

Rent: $600-$800 (trying to keep it under/close to $1000 including all utilities - cable/electricity/water/trash/etc)

Key things to consider:
1. Safety from home intrusion and car break-ins
2. Avoid "very" noisy neighbourhood
3. Safe and clean neighbourhood
4. Would like to have shopping in walking distance but not necessary

After research mainly via community boards and reviews over internet, I came up with this list:

North Side:
1. Auston Woods - Phase II (Liked this one from the looks and price)
2. Ashford Green (http://jmg.mynewsite.com/apartment/ashford-green-charlotte-nc-6ui2s8826463 - broken link) (looks good too)
Unfortunately found bad reviews on following but they are old reviews and not sure if reliable!!!
3. Colonial Grand at mallard lake
4. Colonial Grand at Mallard Creek
5. Colonial Grand at Legacy Park
6. Colonial Grand at University Center (Looks nice)

South Side:
1. Colonial Village at Charleston Place
2. Post Park at Phillips Place (seems expensive)
3. Bexley at Springs Farm
4. Camden Fairview
5. Strawberry Hill (http://www.strawberryhillapts.com/cont_main.html - broken link)
6. Galleria Apartments (http://www.galleriaapts.com/Apartments/module/property_info/property%5bid%5d/10252/ - broken link) (Looks good)
7. Sterling Magnolia - Kinda seems quite expensive
8. 1420 Magnolia (looks good but on top side of my budget)
9. Ashford Place (Looks good)
10. Camden South End - Not sure what price offered here.
11. Camden Foxcroft - Not sure what price offered here.

While doing the research found some common issues all across the broad:
1. BEWARE of car break-ins and home intrusion
2. BUGS BUGS BUGS
3. Bad management (could be relative to perception)
4. Flooding in parking till knees

Not sure how much of this is true and this is not my 1st time renting apartment but these are certainly not common issues.

I will appreciate your expert suggestions as it will help me trim down my list.

Sorry for the delay, sometimes a post will slip thru the cracks

Congrats on your new job!

Here are my top 3 recommendations which have the things you are looking for. Don't waste your time on any of the others:

Strawberry Hill
Gallaria Village
Camden Fairview or Camden Foxcroft

[Niftybergin]

Originally Posted by isitpossible

INorth Side:
1. Auston Woods - Phase II (Liked this one from the looks and price)

While doing the research found some common issues all across the broad:
1. BEWARE of car break-ins and home intrusion
2. BUGS BUGS BUGS
3. Bad management (could be relative to perception)
4. Flooding in parking till knees

I live and Auston Woods and have been here for 5 years. I'm in Phase I, though. (I believe Phase I is about 7 years old.) Phase II was built a couple years ago and is updated in the finishings: maple cabinets (instead of white vinyl); black appliances (instead of white); black laminate countertops (instead of gray laminate countertops); wider "plantation" style blinds instead of mini-blinds. The floor plans are very similar in both phases.

I have heard of break-ins of cars and homes, but I don't know if they've been on the old phase or the new phase. All I know is that I've lived here for 5 years and have never been the victim of any kind of crime whatsoever.

Bugs -- I've noticed some earwigs and spiders, and in the spring we get these flying insects that are sort of like gnats, but bigger. The bugs have not been bad and every time I've called to have the exteriminators come out, they have.

No flooding.

Management has been good and receptive. They respond to maintenance requests quickly and have never dealt with me unfairly. In the five years I've lived here, they've raised my rent once, by 10 dollars, and that was 3 years ago.

My commute is 12 miles (south on 77) and takes 20 minutes.

[CLTGoBlue]

i lived in 1420 Magnolia and compared to some of those other options i think it'd be worth the price. you're in a great location near some basic needs store @ the Park & Woodlawn intersection. if you'd like to live near fun bars and restaurants the Montford Ct strip is right down the street from you and some of the best bars for young people are located there. Camden SouthEnd is also in a great area of Charlotte near lots of bars/restaurants/galleries/shopping and you'd have the benefit of being right on the light rail for easy trips Uptown ...

IMO a lot of your options are in "the boonies" from my Charlottean perspective. when i lived in Detroit things w/in a 30 minute drive i considered "close," it's just a different story in Charlotte, i can't think of an area i drive to regularly that would take 30 min. the furthest i go by car is from NoDa to the old Coliseum area on Tyvola and that takes 15 minutes maybe by freeway ...

overall i think you'll find that Charlotte has better options for apts than more developed cities with less space (NYC, Chicago, Philly). most places will offer you a pool & gym and more space than you're probably used to, other than distance there's really not a ton of distinguishing factors i can think of. i would not factor public transportation whatsoever in to decision at all. unless you live and work exactly on the light rail line (runs along South Blvd) it really has no use to you ...

and FWIW i couldn't imagine living in an area like University as a young professional. but i go for more of an urban setting. if that's appealing to you at all i would check out craigslist and search for neighborhoods like Plaza-Midwood, NoDa, Elizabeth & SouthEnd. any of those you'll be in close proximity to events uptown (Panthers games, Bobcats games, big city-wide events) but pay a bit less in monthly rent. w/in the 277 loop prices go up a bit ...

[NY2NC07]

IMHO living Uptown/Downtown is SOOO overrated. Your paying for 'location' but there's really nothing in said 'location' There are bars/restaurants everywhere in CLT and if you'll be working Uptown anyway you'll have time to experience it all. Besides, as the above poster mentioned you will VERY RARELY have to travel more than 20 min to get anywhere in metro Charlotte - Uptown & sporting events, etc included.

With that said I would say that Camden managed properties are overpriced and misleading with 'inclusive fees'. And I don't believe Foxcroft or Fairview are in necessarily convenient locations.

Colonial Properties are notoriously badly managed and they will totally mess u over with fees, renewal rates and move outs. But if you are really leaning toward a Colonial Property you will do best with Legacy Park or University center which are both close to shopping, clean and relatively quiet.

I personally lived at Auston Woods and besides there being some office staff that are not the brightest, could not say enough good things about the place. The community is beautiful, well kept and quiet. Although I never, ever felt unsafe there, I do recall receiving a notice or two about a break in (car or home) once or twice. It is also walking distance to Northlake mall and on a bus line. I lived in both phases and LOVED Phase II, although Phase I was lovely.

Ashford Green while it does have decent apartments does not rate very high on the safety scale.

Bexley Spring Farms is another very nice community that is on bus line and walking distance to shopping at the Arboreteum.

In NC there's no way to escape bugs but most communities have exterminators that will come out at no cost. LOL

Auston Woods, Springs Farm and the colonial properties mentioned are communities that I would highly recommend without reservation.

You can feel free to PM me for any additonal details as I can offer 'expert' advice.

[D2C21GC]

Just moved into Strawberry Hill, they are running specials on one, two and three bedroom apartments. Mine has both an upgraded bath and full size kitchen, is three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths 1750 sq ft. - we love the area, have a private little deck area with a sliding glass door and it is pet friendly.

I stop into Fresh Market almost every night to see what the dinner special is (great selection of meats - drive by the Southpark Mall, several drugstores, even a Ben and Jerry's every day and can be uptown in 15 minutes.

Much happier that with the house we rented last year - but I do miss the home we renovated in Plaza Midwood but had to sell due to DHs job loss.

[Amy84LYnn]

I lived at Strawberry Hill for one year. I really liked it there. It's not too far from Uptown and there is a bus stop right there on Providence. It's clean and well kept there and very quiet. This was my favorite of the three places I've lived in Charlotte (and sometimes wish I would have stayed there!). You do have the Fresh Market there and a couple of restaurants as well as a Rite Aid but other than that not much else within walking distance. Although South Park is not far of a drive.

I looked at Bexley at Springs Farm when I was moving this year. It looked very nice there and is gated and in a good area. The only thing I didn't like was the lack of storage. The apartment I looked at had only one closet and no storage unit outside. In order to have a storage unit you had to pay extra and it wasn't right there at your apartment. That might not matter to you but I have a lot of stuff so this was a deal breaker for me! Otherwise I might have picked that one. And it's right across the street from the Arboretum.

Now I am in Colonial Grand at Beverly Crest. I like it here. The area is great with the Arboretum so close and I, personally, like South Charlotte. The price is pretty good on my one bedroom. The noise level isn't bad and the whole Beverly Crest neighborhood is nice.

Good luck!

[isitpossible]

Thanks so much for taking out your precious time and providing all the expert advises and suggestions. This certainly helps me to narrow down my search as well as properties I will view during my visit to Charlotte.

Once again, Thanks.

[NCN]

The only place you listed that I know is Strawberry Hill. We go to church next to it and the area is about as safe as Charlotte gets. It is near Providence Road and I believe the bus travels in that area.